Labor and delivery with acupuncture (DVD)

This course will present basic and advanced acupuncture approaches to the support of the birth process. Although we will be examining how acupuncture can be used during labor and delivery, we will begin by discussing the stages of labor. We will explore channel theory in relation to a smooth progression and I will present a theoretical paradigm for intervention in the birth process, discuss a range of clinical approaches that can be adapted to the needs of specific patients, discuss their appropriate application at different stages of labor and delivery and then discuss strategies for managing problems with labor or delivery, managing the comfort of the laboring mother and interacting with midwives, nurses and obstetricians.
One of the common concerns expressed about acupuncture during labor is the ability of the women to endure the needles while also laboring. My experience has been that while acupressure can be useful for pain relief, it is less long-lasting and more limited in scope when problems arise. We will examine techniques for reducing the number of needles required and for the retention of needles for long periods of time.

The application of acupuncture to the facilitation of labor and delivery is a clinical intervention with a long-standing history of use in the West. For most women, the use of acupuncture in this context is focused primarily on the reduction of pain and discomfort during labor, hastening delivery and, in particular, facilitation cervical dilation. In some cases, when labor is not progressing well, the baby does not drop, the cervix becomes swollen, etc., with appropriate pattern differentiation, the acupuncturist can use more refined interventions to address the problem and help the woman to move to move to a smoother labor and delivery.

When most of us leave school, we think first of all, that those acupuncture points that are frequently considered to be contra-indicated during pregnancy, would, quite naturally be the ones that would be used to induce labor or during labor. While some of these points are indeed useful, they are not always the correct choice, and in fact, there are several points that are more effective in particular situations than these contra-indicated points.

I first became involved in this area of clinical practice with the birth of my first child. As an acupuncturist myself, I determined that I would have acupuncture during my labor and delivery. The midwife at this birth was astonished at how rapidly my labor progressed once the acupuncture was initiated. After this experience, I began my post-graduate studies, and was lucky enough to have the opportunity to study in a labor and delivery ward at Lutheran Medical Center in Brooklyn, NY as well as with Jean Levesque of Montreal who has been doing acupuncture with women during labor and delivery for more than 20 years. This course will present basic and advanced acupuncture approaches to the support of the birth process. Although we will be examining how acupuncture can be used during labor and delivery, we will begin by discussing the stages of labor. We will explore channel theory in relation to a smooth progression and I will present a theoretical paradigm for intervention in the birth process, discuss a range of clinical approaches that can be adapted to the needs of specific patients, discuss their appropriate application at different stages of labor and delivery and then discuss strategies for managing problems with labor or delivery, managing the comfort of the laboring mother and interacting with midwives, nurses and obstetricians.

One of the common concerns expressed about acupuncture during labor is the ability of the women to endure the needles while also laboring. My experience has been that while acupressure can be useful for pain relief, it is less long-lasting and more limited in scope when problems arise. We will examine techniques for reducing the number of needles required and for the retention of needles for long periods of time.

TCM-Kongress Rothenburg 2010,
1 DVD, 180 min., englisch.

Deutscher Titel: Marnae C. Ergil, L.Ac. – Wehen und Geburt mit Akupunktur – Unterstützung des Geburtsprozesses.